Asean Single Market in 2015

What do you think will be the pros and cons of the Asean Single market in 2015?

Advantages:-

• Thailand can sell more food, garments and pharmaceutical products to the region.
• Thailand neighboring countries like Myanmar, Loas, Cambodia and Vietnam will be able to expand their agricultural products and raw materials to Thailand.
• Industrial products can be sold more easily and on large scale.

Disadvantages:-

• Some countries have to amend laws or even the constitution for this change due to the laws that forbid a foreign lawyer to practice in their territory.
• The fear from local lawyer would have the problem because they may be badly affected from the hordes of foreign lawyers coming in especially when they are of Multinational Corporations’ status.

What should Thailand do to prepare herself for the new regional market?

• Thailand should solve the political problem as this serious problem has a negative impact on economy and this may reduce certainty for foreign investor, so we have to prepare ourselves to strengthen the Thai economy.

The Mystery of Naga Fireball

Have you ever heard of or believed in the water creature that is known as Naga? I believe that Thai people know well about this phenomenon and most of them say there is evidence indicating their presence in Mekong River.

Naga Fireballs - An Image of the Naga Spitting Fireballs

On the night of 15^th day of 11^th lunar month at the end of Buddhist Lent each year, the extraordinary event occurs in the area of the Mekong River as it has flaming orbs rising up from the river and it annually attracts people from all regions of the country gathering to observe the amazing event. Fireballs usually occur in several districts such as Pak-Ngeum district about 80 kilometres in south of the Lao capital Vientiane and Phonephisai district in Nong Khai, Thailand.

According to the description going back over 100 years by people both sides of the Mekhong River, there were something strange happened in the middle of the Mekong River at the end of Buddhist Lent. What they saw was a pink – red fireballs rising up and floating into the sky very high and then disappear. So, everyone began to doubt what that was and then accepted what they saw as the fireball and thought that it was not staged by humans, but happen naturally. Since then, villagers called this phenomenon the Naga’s Fireball and they believed that Naga shoot the fireball in order to celebrate the end of Buddhist Lent.

Naga Fireballs - The Mysterious Red Pink Orb

There is the evidence that the Naga animal has been associated with Buddhism for along time as you can see statues of Naga in many temples. Moreover, the Naga was a servant of Lord Buddha in his last life and there are many pictures and statues of Lord Buddha meditating under the shad of the head of the Naga.

Lord Buddha meditating under the shad of the head of the Naga

Base on the Buddhist Legend, the Naga or the king serpents living in underwater dwellings could change their physical appearance to be anything like human. Once he came to know the Lord Buddha, he admired and respected Buddhist teaching and asked if he could ordain as a monk, but Lord Buddha refused because Naga was an animal and could not be ordained like a human. Although he was not allowed to ordained, the Naga volunteered to be a bodyguard of Lord Buddha and studied Buddhism.

Now each year, Lao and Thais make a fireboat decorated by candles, flowers and flaming torches to place in the Mekong River released on the night of the end of Buddhist Lent. The sight is very beautiful. People on both side come to watch the beautiful boat and enjoy the Naga’s fireball with joyful. However, according to residents, they say the Naga’s fireball does not only occur in the Mekong River, but also in the ponds and rice fields.

The phenomenon of the Naga’s fireball may be odd to outsiders or foreigners, but it has long been for our belief and normal for our local as we see it every year and pass it to each other. These days, Thai government has been announcing this phenomenon through radio, television and newspapers and it has become interesting event for outsiders.

Therefore, after Buddhist Lent ends, a lot of people (Laos, Thais and foreigners) flow to see this event and this cause traffic congestion along the roads of Pak – Ngeum and Phonephisai district located in the Lao and Thai sides of the Mekong River.

Naga Fireballs - Ceremony to Sacred the Naga

Naga Fireballs - People Gathering on the Border of Mekong

Due to its well – known event, many people have expressed their thought about the truth behind it. Some think of scientific term, but some believe in the ways of culture.

According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, they said “The fireball is caused by an explosion of gas deposited under the Mekong River, and it happens at a certain time of year.” (October 2005) and another source said, “It is not gas under the Mekong River, because the bottom of the river is sand where gas cannot be deposited. The fireball is staged by humans.”

Uncle Phoh, 93, the most elderly of the residents in Nong Khiate village where the Naga's fireball appears a lot, said: "I have been seeing this phenomenon since I was a child and I call it the Naga's fireball in accordance with what my elders told me. It happens naturally and no one stages the event."

But Souksakhone, a 23-year-old native of Pak-Ngeum district studying at the National University of Laos, observed: "It does not matter that I still call this phenomenon the Naga's fireball, because I have seen it since I was a child. The scientific explanation has not been absolutely proven. According to the explanation of scientists on Thai TV programmes (in 2002), it is only guesswork and there are still doubts about it."

However, no matter what causes the fireball, I am out of opinion that the supernatural phenomenon has been through generations to generations for along time and it becomes part of their life and In addition, no one could prove it even scientists, so I think the event is a great opportunity for Thai people to come to cerebrate the end of Buddhist Lent and enjoy or have fun with a significant religious event.

Naga Fireballs - Watching Spots in Nong Khai

Ayutthaya: The Most Beautiful Civilization

Have you ever keep in touch with the ancient city of Ayutthaya which it represents our splendor and glory of our past kingdom? I believe that some of you might have been visiting there and some might be not. However, as you may know Ayutthaya was the capital of the central Thai Kingdom for 417 years from the 14th to 18th centuries until it was defeated by the Burmese army in 1767 and it is the place where you can explore the ruins of the old illustrious city with influences from Dvaravati, Khmer, Mon, and Lawo cultures. Moreover, with the reign of 33 kings, Ayutthaya gave Thailand a great number of fine buildings, monuments and works of art and it was selected as a World Heritage Site in 1994.

Monument of King U – thong who founded the kingdom of Ayutthaya in 1350 C.E.

Getting to Ayutthaya is very easy as you can drive your car just about 86 kilometers along highway 1 from Bangkok and then turn left onto highway 32 at Wang Noi or you can take a bus from Bangkok (Northern Bus Terminal) and it departures at 40-minute intervals from 5am-7pm everyday.

Before I arrived Ayutthaya, I thought that ancient city is located in one area like Sukhothai that I have been visiting there last two years, but it is located in different places, so it took me along time to go from places to places. At first, I decided to visit 9 ancient temples at Ayutthaya as number “9” is the lucky number of Thai people and I believe that if I visit all of nine temple, it will bring me a good luck and make me have a good life.

However, Sightseeing nine temples in a day is not possible, so I visited only 4 temples: Wat Phra Si Sanphet, Wat Mahathat, Wat Chaiwattanaram and Wat Na Phra Meru.

Wat Phra Si San Phet

Wat Pra Si Sanphet which is considered as the grandest temple in the city

When I first arrived at this ancient temple I was very surprising with three big pagodas that the eastern and central chedis of the temple were built by King Rama Thibodi II in 1492 in order to enshrine the ashes of his father and elder brother. When King Thibodi II died, his ashes were enshrined in the third large chedi, which was built by his son King Boromaraja IV in 1530. It is believed that other smaller chedis house the ashes of other members of the royal family. Moreover, these are remains of the wiharn which once house a 16-meter tall Buddha image made from gold, but now there is no such beautiful golden image as the Burmese troop set fire to melt the gold, so I can not imagine that if this Buddha image still remained with gold, how beautiful it would be.

อุทยาน ประวัติศาสตร์ ชาติกรุงศรี

ทุกถิ่นที่ ล้วนมี แต่เศร้าหมอง

ศึกพม่า รามัญ มายึดครอง

เผาเรือนรอง เพื่อนพ้อง คะนองใจ

เห็นเจดีย์ สามองค์ อิฐแตกสิ้น

อกแดดิน ต้องสิ้น ถิ่นสมัย

สองพันสาม ร้อยสิบ ต้องอาลัย

เหมือนสิ้นใจ เพราะสิ้นชาติ มิอาจคลัน

Wat Maha That

Wat Maha That was on the corner of Naresuan Road and built by King Ramesuan in 1384. This temple is fairly big so I was able to explore around and take a lot of photos.

Wat Mahathat means the 'Temple of the Great Relic' as many objects discovered were a relic of Lord Buddha and golden Buddha images placed inside a golden casket, but now they were housed in Bangkok’s National Museum.

The above photo shows the famous Buddha head in the tree

Wat Mahathat has the famous statue of the Buddha head in the tree and when I saw it I think the head is from a Buddha statue and over many years a large huge tree grew over it and I wonder that how old the tree and Buddha are as the temple has been lasting for hundreds of years and also wonder about what life must have been in the past when the tree started growing.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram

Wat Chaiwattanaram, one of the most imposing and beautiful ancient Buddhist monasteries, was established by the command of King Prasatthong in 1630 A.D. It was believed that King Prasatthong established the temple in order to make merit for his mother. The temple also use as the place perform religious rites and a cremation site for princes, princesses and other members of the royal family.

You will see that its architecture was similar to that of Angkor Wat since it was inferred that the temple might have been built to commemorate the king's victory over Cambodia. Therefore, this temple is my most impressive ancient temple because of its amazing architecture with 120 gilt lacquered Buddha images and it is still in relatively good condition. Its architecture reminds me to think of the most popular Khmer architecture like Angkor Wat in Cambodia and reflect me that it is glorious era during the Ayutthaya period.

Wat Na Phra Meru

Wat Na Phra Meru is the only temple that survives the destruction of the war. The temple is very beautiful and the Buddha is truly unexplainable because of its bright of gold in the dark building. When I saw this temple, I think most Ayutthaya temples were look like this temple in that time.

In summary, I want everyone to visit there as Ayutthaya is more than just a great historical city of our past, but it is a place of beautiful civilization and when I visited there I was very proud of my country and I felt that I had been in the Ayutthaya period again with the imagination of our brave king fighting enemies on the head of the elephant followed by soldiers to protect Ayutthaya. Furthermore, I think that war is the bad thing as it destroys our beautiful civilization.